some talk about creativity

Recently I’ve become obsessed with the question of where our creativity comes from & how we develop it. In the process, I stumbled upon these videos from the annual TED conference. Both talk about creativity and really made me think about what’s going on in my head & how I need to look at it.

First, Sir Ken Robinson talks about how our education system kills creativity. This is so true. When he mentions the student who is told not to pursue music but instead something practical, that was me. As a junior in high school, I had planned to go to college to study music, specifically voice. But a teacher who I respected at the time advised me to do something practical. It wasn’t until recently that I realized I’ve spent the last 5 years trying to unlearn his advice & to accept doing something unpractical. Robinson’s ideas need to be accepted & our education system revamped.

The second video is a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity. Yes, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, which I haven’t read yet, but might just have to go out & buy now. She talks about where our creative genius comes from, as well as the pressure placed on writers, and artists in general. I’ve already downloaded a copy of this video to my iTunes so I can have it around for those moments when I need a little inspiration.